Far too often I find myself asked "What does the average agent do?" This could be directed in any numbers of ways, but my answer is always the same, "Don't be average, average sucks." As one of my cherished mentors always described average "Average is the top of bottom and the bottom of the top, it's the cream of the crap."
What is average? What does it look like?
According to the National Association of REALTORS, last year:
The Average Agent completed two transactions.
The Average Agent, with five years of experience and above, had a gross commission income of 49,000.00. Which means they had a net nearer to 25,000.00.
RE/MAX reported that their Average agent had a gross commission income of 115,000.00 last year, much better, but keep in mind that means for every agent who earned a million last year that would mean as many as nine could have earned zero.
The Average small business, no matter what it is, closes permanently within five years.
So what is our Aha here? Don't be average, it sucks. To not be average requires one common thing, the firm decision not to be and to follow up on what that means.
Rick Setzer, one of my most admired mentors explained it this way, he taught the "Rule of 95%."
The Social Security Administration has long had a chart that is used by insurance agencies and others as to what the financial outcomes are for people at 65 years old.
Out of every 100 people at 65;
36 would be dead.
54 would be dead broke, living off friends, family and the government.
5 would still be working.
4 would be financially independent.
1 would be rich.
If these numbers are true, and they are, it means that 95% of what you know you learned from someone in the 95%, true or false?
If true, what group would you have a 95% chance of eventually falling into?
How can that change? Learn to think like a 1%er.
Because you don't know what you don't know, and that is why you don't have.
Because if you knew what you don't know, you would have what you don't have.
And to know and not do, is not to know.
There is a lot of truth and wisdom in that seemingly silly little prose. Today there are so many ways to learn to think like a one percenter. There is a vast library of books, speeches and interviews with one percenters at a click of a search button.
RE/MAX has given us all a gift of a copyrighted program of 1%er training in the Momentum Complete Agent Development System. The information is there. It is up to you to choose if you will be an active learner or just know and not do. We will discuss this further in an upcoming blog.
We will also be discussing that "average" can have other scary definitions, when it is a landing pad called good when great is something you're capable of.
It is your choice if you want to be Learning based not Knowledge based. Learning based is about active learning by Study, Practice, Action and going back to Review. Knowledge based is that Dead Sea of "I've heard it all before, I know that, that's old news, I don't need that." Remember to know and not to do means not to know.
To be continued.......
